It’s Wednesday night at 9pm. You’ve just come home from the office after an unexpectedly long day and you’re totally exhausted and ravenously hungry. You open your fridge and see that there is nothing inside. You realize you didn’t buy enough food at the grocery store over the weekend and it’s too late to run there now.
What do you do? If you are like a lot of people, you pull up GrubHub and search the for the fastest, closest Chinese food or pizza. Doing this repeatedly costs a lot of money and will wreck your efforts to eat healthy or lose weight. The good news is you can easily prepare for situations like this and ensure you always have healthy options available.
If you want to make easy, delicious meals at home, invest some time and money into stocking your pantry and freezer. Having a fully stocked kitchen makes it easy to put meals together on the fly, even when you don’t have time to go to the grocery store. It also allows you to experiment with different flavors so you don’t get bored with your food.
In this article, I share my essential pantry staples and how you can use them. It can be expensive to stock up on all this stuff at once, so buy just one or two things each time you visit the grocery store. After a few weeks, you’ll be well on your way to having a fully stocked kitchen.
Spices
One of the biggest complaints I hear from people trying to eat healthier is that they get tired of eating bland food all the time. With the help of spices, making good food choices doesn’t need to be a death sentence for flavor. Stock your pantry with plenty of spices to add variety to your meals. In addition to tasting great, many spices provide health benefits.
My essential spices are salt, black pepper, and granulated garlic or garlic powder. Other common and useful spices include cumin, paprika, coriander, oregano, cinnamon, rosemary, and thyme. Look at the recipes you make most frequently and buy the spices that repeatedly pop up.
I am also a big fan of spice blends. Stores like Penzeys, The Spice House, or your local spicer will have many different blend options to chose from. Spice blends are great for people who are short on time or don’t really love to cook because they allow you to add complexity to a dish with little effort. Simply chose the blend that matches the flavor you want, apply liberally to your food, cook, and enjoy. You can purchase blends that work well for certain cuisines, cuts of meat, vegetables, preparation methods, and more.
Oil and Acid
Next on your pantry shopping list are oil and acids, such as vinegar and citrus juice. These items are very versatile and can be used to cook food, make salad dressings, and add flavor to a variety of dishes.
My three go-to oils are olive oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil. I use olive oil and avocado oil to make salad dressings and I cook primarily with coconut oil. Sesame oil is handy to use for stir frys.
Don’t be overwhelmed by the wide variety of vinegars at the store; the basic three are apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, and balsamic vinegar. Vinegar is great for dressing salads and you can also add a splash to stir frys, soups, and other dishes.
Other acids include lemon, lime, and orange juice. You can buy bottles of lemon and lime juice to keep in your pantry, but these must be refrigerated after opening.
Canned Goods
Canned goods sometimes get a bad rap in the health food world. However, I believe that for the average person the benefits of convenience outweigh any loss of nutrients. I use canned goods on a regular basis for salads, soups, stir frys, and chilis.
I recommend always keeping a few cans of protein on hand. My preferred canned proteins are chicken breast, tuna, and salmon, but any protein you enjoy will work. Vegetarians (and people who enjoy them) should keep plenty of canned beans on hand.
Canned vegetables are a great addition to soups, chilis, curries, stir frys, and other one-pot dishes. I usually keep some tomatoes, green beans, corn, olives, and stir fry vegetables in my pantry. I also use canned pumpkin in my daily oatmeal.
When buying canned goods, always try to chose items packed in water instead of syrup or oil. This helps you keep calories in check.
Dry Grains and Legumes
Dried grains and beans are a cheap way to fill out any meal. You can keep these items in the pantry for a very long time. Keep in mind that many dried beans and grains take a while to prepare and may work best cooked in large batches and then saved for later. If time is a concern, you can also buy instant rice or other grains that you can cook quickly in the microwave. Many cooked grains can be frozen and saved for several months.
I always keep bags of oats, jasmine rice, and basmati rice in my pantry. Some of my other favorites include couscous, lentils, and quinoa. You can experiment to figure out which grains and legumes you enjoy and work with your body.
Frozen Foods
The pantry isn’t the only place you can keep food on hand for easy meal prep. I recommend keeping a few key items in your freezer for when you can’t make it to the store or need to fill out your favorite dishes.
First, keep a bag or two of frozen protein that you enjoy. My favorites are chicken breast and shrimp. Most grocery stores now carry a wide range of frozen fish that is often higher quality than what you can grab at their fish counter. If you are concerned about the environment as well as your health, check out http://seafood.edf.org/.
Keeping a few bags of frozen fruits and vegetables in your freezer is also a great idea. Frozen fruits make great additions to smoothies or oatmeal and frozen vegetables can be added to omelets, stir frys or simply popped in the microwave for a quick and easy side dish.
Other Pantry Items
You may notice a few of your favorite items missing from my previous lists. Things like nut butters, honey, dried fruit, pasta, and nuts are staples in many people’s pantries. I encourage you to think honestly about your relationship to these items; for many people, these foods are no better than having candy or cookies lying around the house. People start eating them and aren’t able to stop. If this sounds like you, I recommend keeping these items out of the house. If you don’t have a problem with these foods, feel free to enjoy them sparingly as treats.
Having a well-stocked pantry and freezer makes it much easier to cook healthy meals that aren’t boring or bland. It also means that you will never be unable to prepare something healthy because you didn’t have time to run to the grocery store. Instead of ordering a pizza when you get home late and don’t have food, you will be able to quickly throw together a healthy meal that tastes great.
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